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Augusc-Septembet 1970
ment, the mi litary was
to
withdraw
from East of Suez by 1971. But Mr.
Heath and the Conservatives have now
reaffirmed their determinatioo to keep at
least a token British force East of Suez.
This news has been heart-warming
to
many of Britain's allies - especially to
Australia, New Zealand aod the U. S.
Not only have the British Jost their
birth right-Empi re, but there are serious
interna! problems as well. Welsh and
Scottish nationalist groups are agitatiog
for more independence, more self–
government, and for "borne rule."
And British-governed Northern Ire–
land is deeply d ivided
politically
and
religiomly.
That Province is governed
primarily by Ulster Protestants. But the
Catholic
mi11ot'ity
has recently become
more vocal and more violent. They are
agitating to overthrow the Protestant–
dominated go\'ernment ruled from Bel–
fast's Stormont Parliament, which in
turn is responsible to London.
Tbey want to kick the Protestants out
of the government once and for all -
and intend ultimately to hand the Six
Counties of Northcrn Ireland over to
Eire (Republic of Ireland) where the
Catholics are in the majority. They fully
intend for the whole of Ireland to
be
governed by Dublin.
NO
sf:Ll
/.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
But the Protestants in Ulster will
have nooe of it. They want to retain
dose ties with London - want to
remain part of Great Britain. Ulstcr
M.P.
Mr.
Ian Paisley is very vocifcrous
m his anti-Catholic, pro-Protestant
speeches, both in and out of Parliament.
Another Ulster M.P., Miss Berna–
dette Devlin, is equally vocal in her
attempts to overthrow British Protestant
rule in Northern Ireland. Shc is now
serving a six-month prison term for
"inciting people to riot and commit ting
riotous bebaviour."
Britain' s Industrial Anarchy
At home, Britain now has the h ighcst
rate of
ttnemployment
since World War
T.
There are 547,000 jobless in Britain
- representing
2.4
percent of tbe labor
force.
l nefficiency
is still commonplace in
British industry. And Britain is still
bedeviled with chronic
"wildcat Jlt'ikes."
A new record of 1,578 strikes were
counred in Britain during the first four
months of
this Jear,
compared to only
1,400 for all of 1964 - the year when
Mr. Wilson's Labour Government was
fust voted into power.
Mr. Wilson's labor-backed Govern-
11
ment even proposed mild legislation to
curb strikes. But bitter opposition from
the labor unions and from sorne of the
Labour M.P.s caused Mr. Wilson to
drop the issue.
Britain's new Prime Minister, Mr.
Heath, now proposes passing legislation
to put the bit in the mouths of the labor
unions.
Many Britons hope
Mr.
Heath will
have the courage to restore sorne
order and sanity to British industry
- putting an eod to the shameful
"industrial anarchy" which continues to
plague and harnstriog this once-powerful
nation.
The powerfu l labor unions must
be brought under control before Britain
can really expect to get moving.
Crush ing Tax Burden
Britons traditionally have been sad–
dled with one of the world's heaviest
tax b11rdem.
The average Briton now
pays a very high percentage of his
income in
direct
and
indirect
taxes. This
crushing tax burden was made even
heavier by the Labour Government. Mr.
Heath has promised to remove the
Selective Employment Tax and
to
reduce other forms of taxation which